Google on Tuesday presented the Pixel 6, its new range of smartphones, a market in which the technology giant has paradoxically never succeeded in breaking into.
The star of the new device is its processor, dubbed “Tensor”, the first designed by Google, and “the most important mobile innovation in the history of our company,” said Peter Prunuske, director of Pixel products. “This is the culmination of years of investing in artificial intelligence,” he added at a press conference.
The Californian group largely dominates online research and the mobile economy, with its Android operating system, used in 80% of smartphones and tablets worldwide. It is ahead of the game in self-driving cars, behind Amazon and Microsoft in the “cloud” (remote computing), and its Google Maps application has become synonymous with GPS. But on the smartphone side, the Pixels have achieved only “poor performance” in terms of market penetration, notes Brad Akyuz of the NPD Group.
In question, according to the analyst, technical imperfections, but also the Apple-Samsung duopoly, firmly established. In the United States and Canada, Google held less than 2% market share in September, far behind the American Apple (53%) and the South Korean Samsung (28%), according to the Statcounter site. All over the world, it doesn’t even appear in the rankings.
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“Pixel excels on the software side, but that was not enough to differentiate itself from its rivals, such as Samsung, which has always been able to react quickly,” notes Brad Akyuz. He recalls in particular that the photo software of Google smartphones have long been more sophisticated, to the point of producing images of “similar or even better” quality than those of other devices with two or three lenses. “Samsung quickly caught up, and the multiple cameras on the Galaxy are a much better selling point for consumers who aren’t interested in what’s going on behind the scenes.”
The Californian giant hopes to return to the race with its Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, which will be marketed from 650 and 900 euros, prices slightly lower than those of the latest iPhones.
This time Google is banking on its expertise in automated learning or “machine learning”, which is supposed to make the user experience much more intuitive. It “offers you possibilities that only a Google phone allows, such as the Instant Translation feature which allows you to translate messages and videos (also available offline),” says the description of the new device.
The Pixel 6 are also presented as more resistant and more secure thanks to a new chip which protects “effectively against hackers”.
” A new chance “
Google has been trying to break through since well before the launch of its first Pixel, in 2016. The firm had acquired the phone maker Motorola in 2012 for $ 12.5 billion, but had resolved to sell it two years later to the Chinese Lenovo, for less than three billion dollars.
“We have grown well since the first generation (of Pixel),” said Peter Prunuske. “We are now present in more than ten markets (…) and we have experienced significant growth over the past five years”.
The tech group may benefit from LG’s desertion from the market. Currently number 4 in the United States, the South Korean announced in April that he would no longer manufacture smartphones. “With LG at the start, the market is looking for a solid number 3 (not necessarily in terms of volume), and Google will have another chance to place itself in the field of high-end phones,” said Brad Akyuz.
Beware of success, however, warns the expert: “The current supply problems, which affect even the leaders of the sector, could represent a significant challenge for Google if ever the demand were high”. According to Bloomberg, Apple had to reduce its production targets for iPhone 13 before the holidays to 80 million, instead of 90 million, because of the global shortage of microchips.